Last hope for Concacaf eliminated at FIFA World Cup

AL RAYYAN, Qatar — Well, so much for Concacaf.

The last remaining team in the North and Central America, and Caribbean region went away quietly from the 2022 FIFA World Cup, losing 3-1 to the Netherlands here at the Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday, in the first of eight Round of 16 games.

Netherlands right back Denzel Dumfries picked out both Memphis Depay and Daley Blind with low crosses from the wing and then scored the third in similar fashion, and it was all it needed to advance to the quarterfinals.

“This is a tough one to swallow for us, the guys put everything they had into it,” said United States head coach Gregg Berhalter. “It’s such a good group of guys, such a close-knit group of guys and you just want more for them, and tonight we came up short.

“We talked about the game being about moments, and I think the first half was a great indication where we were on top for a lot of the first half and two moments come, and all of a sudden, we’re down 2-0.”

The United States was the only team from Concacaf to advance to the knockout stage of the World Cup as Canada, Mexico and Costa Rica all went home after group-stage exits.

Canada lost all three of its games, making his first World Cup appearance in 36 years; Costa Rica managed to beat Japan, but lost its other two games, and Mexico’s win and tie were not enough to get through, losing out on goal difference.

The United States got through to the next round out of Group B with draws with Wales and England, and a narrow 1-0 victory over Iran.

“I do feel like we made progress, I feel that if you look at our team, it’s a very clear identity of what we’re trying to do,” Berhalter said. “We have a group that is extremely committed to each other; to what they’re trying to accomplish on the field, and we have a good group of individuals.”

Finalists in 2010 and semifinalist four years later, the Netherlands are a team in transition after failing to qualify for Russia four years ago.

They have done enough to get through to this stage, but have not exactly inspired along the way. They are not the Netherlands of Johan Cruyff’s days, who revolutionized the game with its Total Football, and players interchanging positions on the fly. This Netherlands team seems more methodical, does enough to get by and is unbeaten in 15 games.

The Netherlands was outplayed in long stretches by the United States in the first half and should have been down after three minutes, but United States forward Christian Pulisic was unable to slip a shot from in tight past goalkeeper Andries Noppert.

Depay, who plays for Barcelona, opened the scoring on the Netherlands’ first foray into the United States half, 10 minutes into the game. He finished off a fantastic cross by Dumfries, who like a quarterback against a zone defence, played the ball from the wing into an open space in front of the United States defenders, where Depay could run onto it and slot it past goalkeeper Matt Turner.

Almost hit on the counter moments later, the United States took a cautious approach looking for the equalizer. It wasn’t until the 43rd minute when a clearance landed on the foot of United States forward Timothy Weah and he hammered it on net, but right at Noppert.

Just over a minute later, United States right back Sergino Dest made an inspiring run at the heart of the Netherlands aging defence. Dest did everything right, but was unable to pull the trigger in the box with his left foot and the ball was eventually cleared.

Only a minute of injury time was added to the first half, but Blind took advantage of it, running on to another outstanding cross played into space by Dumfries and hammering it past Turner. The goal came on essentially the last kick of the half and likely changed the nature of the halftime pep talk by Berhalter.

Whatever was said by both coaches at the break seemed to inspire the Netherlands as they came out looking to put the game away.

“I was very critical at halftime in my analysis that I share with my players,” Dutch head coach Louis Van Gaal said. “Despite that we were in the lead — which what I thought were fantastic goals — however, in the first half we were dispossess so often when it was not necessary and that’s simply not acceptable at a World Cup.”

Depay came close to scoring his second and Netherlands’ third in the 60th minute, when his shot from the top of the penalty area was tipped over the crossbar by Turner.

Turner was doing his best to keep his team in the game, making a good save on a shot from Netherlands substitute Teun Koopmeiners and then doubling down to rob Depay on the headed rebound.

The two saves proved big as five minutes later, substitute Haji Wright scored when a low cross from Pulisic bounced off his foot and went up over Noppert, finding the top corner.

The goal made things interesting for about five minutes before Dumfries added a third, this time on the receiving end of an excellent cross to the back post from Blind, returning the favour from the first half.

The Netherlands moves on to the quarterfinal to face the winner of the Argentina-Australia game played later in the evening.

The Round of 16 continues Sunday with England facing Senegal, and France taking on Poland.

“I think they (United States) had a great deal of talent on their squad,” Dumfries said. “We analyzed their squad as a squad that brings a lot of energy to the match, and I think they have a wonderful future.”

Email: dvandiest@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @DerekVanDiest